SHERIDAN — The beautification of downtowns is something every small town or village hopes to accomplish, and the recent downtown streetscape project of Sheridan was geared to do just that.

With the work on Sheridan’s main street (M-66), the village opted to take advantage of the torn up streets to throw in a few projects of its own, some new sidewalks, signs and street lighting.

But anyone driving through Sheridan’s downtown now will see the more noticeable addition, a 15-foot, 1,000-pound cast iron clock at the corner of Washington and Main streets.

Anyone driving through Sheridan will now see a new addition to downtown, a 15-foot, 1,000-pound cast iron clock at the corner of Washington and Main streets. — Courtesy photo/Andrea Lane Photography

“This clock has its own character,” said Village President Susan Wyckoff-McFarland. “It looks really good downtown. It’s just another item of beautification.”

Put up on Tuesday, the “old fashioned” designed clock adds another dimension of a welcoming downtown in Sheridan. And the community can truly call it their own.

Costing just shy of $20,000, the clock and its installation was funded completely through donations, which have far exceeded the goal and continue to flow in.

“We got donations from $20 up to $1,000 from people and businesses,” Wyckoff-McFarland said. The village raised more than $27,000 so far, and since the clock has gone in, the donations continue to come in.

Even though the clock has already been paid for, the village will continue to collect donations through April 11, with the surplus of money to be put right back into additional downtown projects such as Christmas lighting, banners, flags and more.

“It will all go toward the downtown project,” said Village Superintendent Doug Lane, who spearheaded the campaign for the clock.

“It’s nice to have something that stands out,” said Lane, adding he wanted something to replace the former clock which hung from Chemical Bank downtown. “You get used to driving downtown and looking up and seeing what time it was, and people miss that.”

The new clock was a way to bring that back, while adding a little flavor to something that provides a service everyone has on their dashboards. But it’s more than that, Lane said.

“The more you can do to give back to the community you live in, it gets people in the right mood to be involved in a project like that,” he said.

Curtis Wildfong is the Greenville area reporter for The Daily News. Wildfong, a 2009 Central Michigan University graduate, brings a passion for covering hard news stories that impact all members of the community. He lives in Sparta with his wife and daughter.

Related Stories

It may not happen until next spring, but this village is well on its financial way toward the purchase of a new, analog clock for its downtown, currently in the middle of a major streetscape project. At Tuesday evening’s Sheridan Village Council meeting, President Susan Wyckoff-McFarland filled in council members on the results of a recent fundraising effort. Letters were included with last month’s village water bill explaining the clock project and asking for donations.

Plans for a decorative clock previously discussed by members of the Sheridan Village Council for inclusion as part of the village’s upcoming streetscape renovation project have been scrapped due to a misunderstanding regarding its cost.

At least some of the blacktop being milled up from Sheridan’s main street (M-66) will soon find its way into other village projects. At Tuesday evening’s meeting, village council members voted to purchase several tons of the millings from Michigan Department of Transportation contractors, which is overseeing the road improvement project there. According to Village Superintendent Doug Lane, the millings may be purchased for $7 per ton, far less than the $20 per yard the material usually goes for.

The village of Sheridan is going to be getting a major face-lift this summer. Some of the improvements there, such as new picnic tables at the lakeside park, have already been completed. But the lion’s share of the work lies ahead.